Royal icing

Royal icing is a hard white icing, made from softly beaten egg whites, icing sugar (powdered sugar), and sometimes lemon or lime juice. Royal icing got its name from being used on fruitcake, which was the traditional wedding cake for English royalty. [http://www.howcast.com/guides/2173-How-To-Make-Royal-Icing?rev=1] It is used on Christmas cake, wedding cakes, gingerbread houses and many other cakes and biscuits, either as a smooth covering like marzipan, or in sharp peaks. Glycerine is occasionally added to prevent the icing from setting too hard.

As well as coating cakes and biscuits, royal icing is usually considered a decorative icing since it can be used to create many decorative effects, such as flowers and figures. Royal icing is often piped into shapes which are allowed to harden on a non-stick surface. These can then be arranged to create edible decorative effects on a variety of sweet foods.

Health Risk

Although royal icing has traditionally been prepared with fresh egg whites, many people substitute meringue powder, due to the risk of salmonella that using raw egg whites presents. cite web|url=http://www.aeb.org/LearnMore/EggSafety.htm |title=Egg Safety |accessdate=2007-05-02 |date=2007-01-18 |work=American Egg Board ] Alternatively, ready-to-use, pasteurized, refrigerated egg whites can be purchased in most grocery stores which should also provide a safe alternative to fresh egg whites.

References

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A663617 h2g2 Edited Guide entry on Christmas Cake and Royal Icing]
* [http://www.imaginativeicing.demon.co.uk/royalicing_howtocover.html One method for applying Royal Icing]